I Get By With A Little Help
by PrincessOfQuestionableMorals
Summary: Rose returns to her world, alone and with no way to contact the Doctor. Will she, Donna, and Torchwood be able to save the world from the not-quite alien threat that is slowly taking over without his help? Pre-s4, AU s3. Chapter Five: From Ianto Jones.
1. From Sylvia Noble

_Title: I Get By With A Little Help (inspired by the Beatles song)  
Author: PrincessOfQuestionableMorals  
Genre: Adventure, Romance, Friendship?  
Characters/Pairings: Rose/Doctor (10th), Donna, Sarah-Jane, Captain Jack, Torchwood, Martha...  
Summary: The quintessential Rose-returns-pre-s4 story! Will Rose be reunited with the Doctor? Will she be able to save the world if the Doctor isn't there to help? Did I write this fic just to use the word "quintessential" in the summary? Read on to find out.  
Author's Note: It's not crack. Really. Just another "what if" story, that will end up Doctor/Rose, unless the plot bunnies decide to rampage in a different direction._

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter One: ...From Sylvia Noble

Rose Tyler woke up freezing and laying on sand, with something wet and cold attacking her face. When she opened her eyes, she was greeted by the sight of what appeared to be a rather large golden bug.

She closed her eyes, and opened them again.

Nope. Still there.

Realizing upon further observation that it was not actually a bug but rather a rather overeager dog, she sat up, pushing it away. As the world spun dizzily and her body protested against the movement, she put a hand against her head and tried to focus.

Her concentration was interrupted by a squeak from a woman, who was, Rose supposed, the owner of the dog. The woman's eyes widened in shock as they looked at Rose, before softening with pity.

"Are you okay? How did you get here?" The woman asked softly.

"I don't remember," said Rose, honestly. "I was…" She tried to think. "Mickey was there, and Jake…"

"Oh, honey." The woman looked on the verge of tears. "We'll get this figured out, but first we need to get you some clothes."

That was when Rose realized that she was naked.

And that the sky was free of zeppelins.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Sylvia Noble (which is what the woman's name was, Rose learned) found out that Rose didn't remember anything except her name, she offered her a place to stay for the night. Dressed in an old and rather tight sweatshirt and jeans that Sylvia had brought out, claiming that her daughter wouldn't mind sharing, she curled up on the couch with a cup of tea.

Rose could tell from the way the older woman watched her that Sylvia believed that Rose had been raped, and though Rose wanted to tell her that it wasn't rape, if only to ease her mind, she knew that the real explanation made no sense to anyone except her.

"You look surprised to be alive," Wilf, Sylvia's father, informed her. She shot a smile at the man and shrugged.

"I've been away from London for a long time," she replied cryptically and Wilf frowned, though he didn't press the subject

The two sat in companionable silence, and Rose stared up at the stars through the window, thinking of him and where he was and if he had another companion.

"Looking for aliens?" asked Wilfred, following her gaze.

Rose started giggling. "You have no idea."

Wilf opened his mouth, but whatever he was going to say was interrupted by the opening of a door and a loud voice questioning the whereabouts of Wilf and Sylvia.

A ginger-haired woman appeared in the doorway to the living room. "Who's this, then?"

"Her name is Rose," said Sylvia. An expression of surprise, unnoticed by all except the Rose, flashed in the woman's eyes. "Rose, this is my daughter, Donna. Rose lost her memory, so she's staying here tonight." She directed the next words towards Rose. "Tomorrow, you should go to a doctor, lady." Sylvia reminded Rose of Jackie in a lot of ways, and she felt a pang of regret.

She pushed the feeling down angrily and forced a smile. "I'm sure all I need is the right kind of Doctor." She saw Donna jump, but chose to ignore it. "I remember someone—um, Sarah-Jane…Smith, I think. I want to try and find her tomorrow." She picked at a loose thread on the blanket covering her.

"Oh—the investigative reporter?" Wilf said. "Best thing in the paper, these days, while everyone else is busy trying to cover up the alien—"

"Dad," said Sylvia warningly.

"Well, look at Donna! I saw it, on her wedding day, just up and vanished! And that man, the one who brought her to the party—if he wasn't an alien, I'll eat my socks. And that Christmas tree almost killed us!"

Rose's eyes widened. "What?"

"Rose!" Donna smoothly interrupted before her grandfather could speak. "I think I have some clothes that might fit you better."

Abandoning her tea, Rose got up to follow the other woman to her bedroom. When she got there, Donna was already rummaging in her bureau, muttering under her breath.

"I know it's here…It was just…Ah!" Donna grinned triumphantly, and held out a sweater to Rose, watching her carefully. Rose took it without looking at first, but the feel of the fabric was familiar so she looked down at what she was holding.

A blue sweater. She shoved it away from her, dropping it on the floor. "Where did you get that?" She stared at Donna accusingly, though the older woman took no notice, or, rather, Rose's reaction made her grin larger.

"I knew it!" Donna trumpeted. "You're the Doctor's Rose!"

"You know the Doctor?" Rose asked, confused.

"Crashed my wedding, saved my life, drained the Thames, skipped out on Christmas dinner—oh, he is going to be thrilled."

"Donna, do you know how to get in touch with him?"

The smile vanished from Donna's face. "I've been trying to find him, myself."

"There's an old companion of his, Sarah-Jane…" Rose trailed off. "She might know how to find him." She bit her lip. "She lives near here. Well," she amended, "in Ealing."

"Then we'll find Sarah Jane," said Donna confidently.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Rose knocked on the door of Sarah Jane's house nervously. Donna stood beside her, hands shoved into pockets against the chill that still permeated London, even in April.

When the door opened, they were greeted by a young boy. Rose, biting her lip, decided to take the plunge.

"Hello, is Sarah-Jane here?" The boy's eyes glanced over both her and Donna, before he turned and yelled into the house.

"Mum!"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_Yes? No? Press the pretty button?_


	2. From Sarah Jane Smith

_Title: I Get By With A Little Help  
Author: PrincessOfQuestionableMorals  
Genre: Action/Adventure, Friendship, Romance  
Rating: PG  
Characters/Pairings: Ten/Rose, Donna, Sarah-Jane, Jack, Torchwood, Martha, Sally Sparrow, the Master...?  
Summary: Rose returns to her world, alone and with no way to contact the Doctor. Will she, Donna, and Torchwood be able to save the world from the not-quite alien threat that is slowly taking over without his help? Pre-s4, AU s3.  
A/N: Excuse me if I blatantly overwrote Sarah Jane Adventures canon. I know next to nothing about the show, so it's all Wikipedia and guesswork for me. Reviews are love, and they feed my malnourished muse._

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter Two: ...From Sarah-Jane Smith

When Sarah-Jane Smith had read the list of the dead from the Battle of Canary Wharf, it had been in the newspaper. As a courtesy to all of those who had lost friends or family, the list had been published in every major newspaper, to give people closure or hope.

Sarah-Jane had been reading an article about cell phones ("Are They Dangerous? How Much Is Too Much?") when she came across the List, as it came to be unofficially dubbed. She had skimmed it, on the off chance that she did know someone who had died, but didn't really expect to find anyone.

She had nearly choked on her tea when she saw Rose Tyler's name.

It was near the bottom, right below Tyler, Jacqueline. Nine letters that encompassed the brave, foolish, charming impossibility that was Rose Tyler, and as Sarah-Jane thought of the young blonde woman, she felt a surge of anger at the Doctor that was quickly pushed down by overarching sadness.

That's why, after she followed Luke's voice to the door, she became convinced that she was dreaming, because it was impossible for that familiar blonde girl, wearing the same smile she had worn while they laughed together about the Doctor, could possibly be leaning comfortably against the doorframe, flanked by a ginger-haired woman.

"'Mum'?" Rose mimicked Luke. "Well, I must've been gone longer than I thought."

Sarah-Jane remained frozen in place, as she had been since she first saw Rose in the doorway. Rose frowned. "I was joking. It hasn't been that long, has it?" A thought struck her. "Do you…remember me?"

Sarah-Jane snapped out of her thoughts, and walked up to the blonde and hugged her. "As if I could forget my replacement." She scoffed.

"So, you have a son…" Rose trailed off.

"I was genetically made from the DNA of many humans, and Sarah-Jane adopted me after she stopped the aliens who made me from invading the Earth," the boy informed them.

Donna stared at the boy. "Can he cram complex explanations into a nutshell, or what?" she said, impressed.

"His name is Luke." Sarah-Jane explained. "Come in, come in."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"He was at a hospital a few months ago," Sarah-Jane informed the two women who were sitting at her table, drinking tea. "It went to the moon."

Rose giggled. "Oh, he must've loved that."

"Would be quite like him," Sarah-Jane smiled.

"But you haven't seen him…?" Rose trailed off, looking down and playing with the tablecloth.

"Not since we defeated the Krillitanes, no." Sarah-Jane replied, sadly. "Rose…"

"You want to know how I came back from the dead." Rose guessed, sighing.

"The Doctor said you were 'lost'," said Donna. "Not dead, just…lost."

"My body was never found, or my Mum's, but so many people died or disappeared that day that our names just got put on the list of the dead." Rose started sniffling. "At least, that's what he told us." She looked up at Sarah-Jane. "Burned up a whole sun to say goodbye." She took a deep breath. "I was in a parallel universe." Her lips twisted into a sarcastic smile. "Stuck there, actually."

Sarah-Jane's lips formed a small 'o' of understanding.

A small silence lasted until Donna finally broke through with an obvious question. "Well, if you were stuck…how did you get back?"

"Mickey thought he had found a way, we were just testing it on a mouse, but somehow, I guess I must've gotten pulled through…" She felt tears start to slip down her face, and sniffed. "I didn't get to say goodbye to any of them—Mum, Mickey, Pete, Pete Jr., Jake…" she trailed off. "My team…Owen, Tosh, Ianto, Suzie, Gwen…"

Sarah-Jane silently handed her a tissue, and she blew her nose noisily.

"Sarah-Jane…do you know how to get in contact with the Doctor?" ventured Donna. "Both Rose and I are trying to find him, but for different reasons," she leaned in and whispered to Sarah-Jane, "I don't know what she can see in that skinny grass stain that would make her fall in love with him, I honestly don't."

Sarah-Jane grinned at Donna. "It's just one of those things," she said wisely. "I'm actually not sure how to get in touch with him, and it's nearly impossible to predict where he'll be. K9 might know…" Rose's eyes lit up at the mention of the robotic dog.

"Good old K9," she said enthusiastically. "Can you ask him?"

Sarah-Jane's mouth twisted sadly. "He went to stop a black hole. Sometimes he gets close enough to Earth that he can speak to me, but otherwise he can't. I'm sorry." Another thought jumped into her mind. "You could try…" She hesitated.

"What?" asked Rose, eagerly.

"Torchwood," said Sarah-Jane, and Rose felt her stomach drop. Sarah-Jane read it on her face, and immediately began to cajole her. "It's not Torchwood London anymore, it's Torchwood Cardiff. The top man there is also looking for the Doctor, or so I've been told, his name is Jack…"

"Jack…?" prompted Rose, unjustified hope spreading through her body.

"Jack…Jack Harkness, I think. Yes, Captain Jack Harkness," Sarah-Jane said.

There was a thump and the sound of breaking china, and utter silence. Donna looked at Rose and then turned and stared at Sarah-Jane.

"I think she's fainted."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

As the TARDIS hurtled out of medieval England, Martha chanced a personal question.

"Rose…what planet was she from?"

The Doctor looked up, surprised. "Earth, of course," he said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "London, actually. Born around the same time as you, I think." He turned away, clearing his throat. "Humans always make the best companions."

"Like Rose?" teased Martha.

"Especially Rose." The Doctor replied emphatically, grinning as he thought of the wonderful girl who had saved him in more ways than one.

He wondered how she was doing.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_Clicky the button. Pretty please?_


	3. From Torchwood

_Title: I Get By With A Little Help  
Author: PrincessOfQuestionableMorals  
Genre: Action/Adventure, Friendship, Romance  
Rating: PG  
Characters/Pairings: Ten/Rose, Donna, Sarah-Jane, Jack, Torchwood, Martha, Sally Sparrow, the Master...?  
Summary: The quintessential Rose-returns-pre-s4 story! Will Rose be reunited with the Doctor? Will she be able to save the world if the Doctor isn't there to help? Did I write this fic just to use the word "quintessential" in the summary? Read on to find out.  
A/N: Feed the muse, my dears!_

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter Three: …From Torchwood

"Explain to me again why I'm doing this," said Donna, irritated, as she and Rose sat in the car of a train that was running towards Cardiff.

"It might be Jack before I knew Jack," explained Rose. "Which would make it very, very bad if I met him. End of the world bad."

"So, I'm supposed to do…what?" prompted Donna.

Rose straightened her shoulders. "Ask him why he's looking for the Doctor, and if he tells you he traveled with him, ask him if there were any companions with them. If there were, then however impossible it might be, there's no chance of creating a paradox."

"Right," said Donna doubtfully, and the rest of the ride was spent in silence.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Jack Harkness had gotten a phone call from Sarah-Jane Smith, he had been very surprised. He had been following her work, and had guessed that she might have traveled with the Doctor, but he didn't know that she knew about him. When he asked her, she chuckled and told him that she had made it her job to know everything about Torchwood after Canary Wharf, at which point her voice had grown serious and morose.

"I know you're looking for the Doctor, Captain," she had said. "I don't know why, but I know you are."

"He owes me a few explanations," Jack had replied.

Sarah-Jane had sighed. "Of course he does. I hope you have better luck finding him than I did. I didn't find him until he…" she trailed off, remembering. "Anyways, I have someone looking for him as well, and she wants to meet you."

Jack had frowned, forgetting that she couldn't see him. "What's her name?"

"Ro—" Sarah-Jane had seen Rose motion wildly at her not to mention her name, and smoothly switched tactics. "Donna Noble."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

When Donna entered the building that Torchwood was supposed to be in, she found a small room, filled with leaflets about different events, and a desk with a bell. She stepped up to the desk and hit the bell, which tinkled pitifully. She sighed, and leant against the desk to wait.

She didn't have to wait long. Within minutes, a man appeared in the doorway, clad in a suit and radiating politeness.

"Hello." She said, smiling. "My name is Donna Noble, and I'm looking for Jack Harkness."

A small smile lit his face, and he pushed a button under the desk. A door appeared in the wall, and she looked at him, startled, before walking warily through the door.

The sight that accosted her eyes was of a large room, filled with a strange glow that practically screamed "alien". Strangely enough, only four people, two men and two women, inhabited the room, and the two men were arguing rather loudly.

"Just because it doesn't look dangerous, Owen, doesn't mean it isn't!" roared one of the men in an American accent.

"It was just laying there, I didn't think it was going attack me," the other man (Owen, Donna assumed) defended himself.

One of the women, rolling her eyes, caught sight of Donna. "You know, if you two would stop arguing for a minute," she said in a thick Welsh accent, "you might notice that we have company."

"What?" asked the American. The woman nodded towards Donna.

"Donna Noble," Donna said, feeling foolish as she stood in the middle of the large cavern, with four—make that five, as the man who had greeted her came in—pairs of eyes staring at her curiously.

"It's my pleasure to welcome you to Torchwood, Miss Noble," the American man said, striding over and taking her hand. Almost positive that he was about to bow over it, she yanked her hand away, placing it on her hip.

"Do I look single?" she asked the ceiling.

"Does it matter?" replied the man.

"Jack, stop it," said the Welsh girl. She held out her hand to Donna, who took it. The woman had a strong grip that belied her small stature. "Gwen Cooper. Casanova over there is Jack Hark—"

"Jack Harkness, I know." Donna interrupted her. "I figured." She turned to the man in question. "I need to talk to you about the Doc—" She was cut off by Jack motioning wildly at her. "The doctor who operated on my leg." She finished lamely.

Gwen raised an eyebrow at Jack. "'The right kind of doctor?'" she quoted.

Jack winced. "Donna, come to my office."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"You know, this wasn't the first time I'd heard of you." Jack said conversationally.

"Really?" asked Donna.

"You've been popping up at almost one out of every four alien-related circumstances in London," Jack informed her. "Ever since 2006, Christmas, when you were going to get married but your fiancé was killed by an alien." He winked. "I've been reading up on you."

Donna rolled her eyes. "But," he continued, "what I don't know is why you're looking for the Doctor."

"Before I say anything…" Donna started carefully. "I need to know some things."

Jack leaned back in his chair, putting his hands behind his head. "Go ahead."

"Did you travel with the Doctor?" asked Donna.

"Yes," said Jack, simply.

Donna bit her lip. "Did he have any other…companions?"

Jack smiled, eyes growing distant. "The most amazing girl. Saved my life and stole my heart—"

"Please, stop him," said Gwen, standing in the doorway. "I might have to hit him if he keeps on like that. Jack, Tosh says she might have found a possible intruder. A blonde woman is on the cameras in front, and she keeps looking at the building. Should we…?"

"I'll be right there," said Jack, taking a quiet note of Donna's stricken expression.

"What was her name?" asked Donna quickly.

"The girl?" asked Jack. "Her name was Rose." His face grew sad. "Her name was on the list of the dead from the Battle of Canary Wharf."

Relieved, Donna hugged him. "Yeah, we know that," she informed him. "Didn't stick. She's going to be _thrilled_." As an afterthought, she said, "She thought you were dead, too, you know."

"What?" asked Jack, confused at the ginger woman currently shooting her mouth off at about 200 mph.

"Come on, Captain!" said Donna, pulling him back through the Hub. "Paradoxes, bah."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

While Toshiko Sato was watching the security footage from the front of the Torchwood building, she witnessed a very unusual sight. The ginger woman (Donna Noble, if Tosh remembered correctly) was pulling a protesting Jack outside towards the restless blonde woman who had been pacing for the past hour and a half.

Then, suddenly, the blonde looked up and met Jack's eyes, and he stopped struggling altogether. The ginger smirked behind her hand as Jack and the blonde got closer and closer to each other.

When they were only two feet apart, they both stopped. The blonde lifted a hand slightly, as though to touch Jack's face, but halted, biting her lip. Then, Jack said something, and the blonde laughed unsurely, still staring at his face. He held out his arms, and she threw herself into them, hugging him hard.

"Weird," said Owen, watching over her shoulder.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_Press it...press it...!_


	4. From Jake Simmonds

_Title: I Get By With A Little Help  
Author: PrincessOfQuestionableMorals  
Genre: Action/Adventure, Friendship, Romance  
Rating: PG  
Characters/Pairings: Ten/Rose, Donna, Sarah-Jane, Jack, Torchwood, Martha, Sally Sparrow, the Master...?  
Summary: Rose returns to her world, alone and with no way to contact the Doctor. Will she, Donna, and Torchwood be able to save the world from the not-quite alien threat that is slowly taking over without his help? Pre-s4, AU s3.  
A/N: Comments are love. Also, some of these ideas come from the Doctor Who book __The Stone Rose_.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter Four: …From Jake Simmonds

The Torchwood team watched in stunned silence as the trio returned inside, the blonde girl holding on tightly to Jack as though she thought he might disappear and laughing as Donna teased him.

"Your face!" the ginger woman exclaimed, tears of laughter running down her face. "I've never seen anyone so stunned!" She wiped her eyes, still laughing.

Jack laughed. "What did you expect? She's back from the dead."

"I wasn't dead. Jack," the blonde said, grimacing. "Well, I suppose I was. Officially. But not literally. I _was_ literally in a parallel universe." She apprised Jack. "And you're one to talk." She noticed the group of four watching them and stopped short. "Hello."

"Rose, this is Owen Harper, Toshiko Sato, Ianto Jones, and Gwen…" Jack trailed off as he saw Rose staring at Gwen.

"Are you alright?" the Welsh woman asked, concerned.

Rose shook herself, pasting a bright smile onto her face as she forced the memories of Gwyneth down. "Fine, thanks. You just look like someone I knew once." A thought struck her. "Do you come from an old Cardiff family?"

Gwen nodded, confused. Rose nodded wisely. "I get it now." She turned to Jack. "This is it? This is Torchwood?" She looked around. "Five people and a…" she squinted. "Is that a _pterodactyl_?"

Jack grinned.

"In Pete's Torchwood," she mused. "There were five commands, and one special field unit, which Mickey and I headed up. Over three hundred employees, and that was just Torchwood London…" She looked around.

"Mickey was the tech guy, good with computers, remember?" Jack made a face at her, and she smirked. "Or maybe not. The three of you were always acting like three year olds fighting over your favorite toy when we all got together."

"We were all in love with you, remember?" said Jack. "That's what boys in love do."

Rose stuck out her tongue. "Anyways, Mickey knew I wanted to get back here, so he and Tosh…" she glanced at the Asian woman who was tilting her head quizzically. "Well, parallel Tosh, I suppose, they started building a dimensional cannon, and Mickey came up with a prototype."

"Hang on," said Donna. "Was I in the parallel world?"

Rose sighed. "Yes. I saw you once or twice, at parties. I think…" she bit her lip. "I think Pete told me that you were the assistant director of Antrophone." At Donna's blank look, she sighed again. "I'll explain later.

"Anyways, when Mickey and Tosh came up with a prototype, we were going to test it. But we were attacked by a group of aliens, the Carthogerans. Martha Jones, a member of my team, was killed in action, and Mickey…" She bit her lip, remembering. "Mickey was in a bad way." She cast a furtive look at Jack. "He sort of…forgot about the dimensional cannon."

"Then how…?" asked Jack.

"He fell in love." She said simply. "Again."

"And…" prompted Donna.

"Jake knew how much Mickey needed to do this for me." Rose's eyes glittered mischievously. "He…erm…_persuaded_ Mickey."

Jack started laughing silently as everyone else looked confused, until Ianto's eyes widened. "Oh," the man said softly.

"_Oh_," said Donna, understanding.

"I should have listened," said Rose, pressing on. "But, I couldn't wait. I used it before it was perfected, and ended up on the beach, naked and alone, where your mother found me." she nodded to Donna.

Tosh started. "How long ago? And where?"

Rose calculated. "Four days ago, on Plage de Mal Loup." She grinned ironically at Jack. "Bad Wolf Beach."

The Asian woman bolted over to her desk, frantically searching through files on her computer. "There was a blip there, a few days ago. Actually, _two_ blips."

"That can't be right," said Rose. "I was alone."

"You were unconscious," pointed out Donna.

Tosh pointed at the computer. "There were two instances of Rift activity. One was smaller than the other."

"I have a question," said Owen, speaking up for the first time. "Have you all bloody lost your minds? How could she have come from a parallel universe, and even if she _did_, aren't there thousands of universes out there that she could have fallen into? The idea that she could somehow miraculously fall into the right universe is wishful thinking at best."

"He has a valid point," said Tosh.

"Oh, no." said Rose. "I think I know what happened, and why there are two blips. And if it is what I think it was, we are in a _lot_ of trouble." She took a deep breath.

"Have you ever heard of genies?"

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

"I wish you were _dead!_" screamed Abigail Jenkins, slamming her bedroom door on her parents' shocked faces. She slumped onto her bed, kicking off her boots, and was accosted by a noise like a clap of thunder inside her head. She fell backwards, off the bed, but it stopped almost as soon as it had started, and she looked around warily.

She knew something was wrong. The noise of her parents' usual cajoling, pleading, threatening, and questioning was absent. She slipped towards her bedroom door, padding softly on the carpet. She opened her door warily, and saw her parents on the floor, her mum's body resting somewhat over her father's. Next to them, a small scaly creature stood, and before Abby's terrified eyes, her parents' bodies began to turn into liquid and pool around the creature's feet, before being sucked up into the creature.

"I'm much obliged to you, thanks," said the creature.

Abby screamed.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

The Doctor knelt in front of the Face of Boe, with Martha at his side.

"Isn't there anything—" his companion began.

"No," interrupted the Face of Boe, gently. "I am ready to pass on. I have lived for…such a very long time." He stopped. "Doctor, it is time."

"Time for what?" asked Martha.

The Doctor hurriedly explained. "It's a legend that when the Face of Boe is near death, he will pass on a message to one like himself."

"You?" asked Martha, surprised.

"Doctor," interrupted the Face of Boe. "I have two messages for you." He paused again. "_You are not alone._ And…she told me to tell you…" The Face of Boe seemed to be struggling with himself.

"Don't ever lose hope, Doctor."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

_This is the last chapter that was already written, so it might be a little while until I update. You can speed me along by reviewing, though..._


	5. From Ianto Jones

Title: I Get By With A Little Help  
Author: PrincessOfQuestionableMorals  
Genre: Action/Adventure, Friendship, Romance  
Rating: PG  
Characters/Pairings: Ten/Rose, Donna, Sarah-Jane, Jack, Torchwood, Martha, Sally Sparrow, the Master...?  
Summary: Rose returns to her world, alone and with no way to contact the Doctor. Will she, Donna, and Torchwood be able to save the world from the not-quite alien threat that is slowly taking over without his help? Pre-s4, AU s3.  
A/N: Some of these ideas come from the Doctor Who book _The Stone Rose_.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Chapter Five: From Ianto Jones

Rose's inquiry was met with stunned disbelief.

"Genies?" asked Donna, breaking the silence. "Like, Aladdin?" She snorted, sitting down in a chair. "You're bonkers."

Then, all of the sudden, everyone was talking at once.

"It's obviously just a blip," dismissed Owen, carelessly. "Or Tosh's computers messed up—"

"My computers do _not_ 'mess up'." replied Tosh hotly.

"Maybe it was an aftershock of you coming in, Rose?" suggested Gwen.

"What the hell do genies have to do with—" started Jack.

Rose looked on helplessly as everyone talked over each other, spouting theories and ideas at louder and louder volumes. She caught the eye of the only member of the team not taking part in this exercise (Ianto, she remembered) and gestured helplessly. He replied with a small smile and picked up a tray off a nearby table. On the tray was balanced a precarious number of teacups.

He quickly schooled his face into a "Who, me?" expression before dropping the tray. It landed with the clattering and ringing sound of breaking china that instantly silenced the group.

"Oops?" he offered, winking at Rose, who took the opportunity to speak to the now silent team.

"Mickey found a statue of me in an art museum once, only it dated back 2000 years." Rose began. "The Doctor knew that this meant that we had to go to Ancient Rome, where the statue was from, so I could get sculpted. Only I didn't, because this guy was actually turning _people_ into statues." She saw the looks on their faces, and held up a hand. "Long story. Anyways, we met a girl, Vanessa, who came from the future by way of a genie, which was now granting wishes. But not a genie like from Aladdin. It was a Genetically Engineered Neural Imagination Engine from the future that was made to grant wishes. But it kept going wrong, so we destroyed the genies except for one, which went to an uninhabited planet where it didn't have to grant wishes."

She sat down, sighing. "The only thing that makes sense now is that the genies started getting made in Torchwood in Pete's World, and one stumbled upon us testing the dimension cannon, and transported it and me here."

"But that means…" started Donna.

"If we don't find that genie, we are in a _lot_ of trouble." Rose told them, gravely.

"And not a Doctor in sight." Muttered Jack.

Rose smacked him gently in the back of the head. "Luckily for _you_, Harkness, you've got the girl who saved the Doctor from the genie." She stuck her tongue out. "And I've gotten to kiss him. In _both_ forms. Which is more than you can say, Captain." She mock-saluted, before striding over to Tosh's workstation, where the two women huddled in whispered conversation.

"_Both_?" question Jack to the air.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Abby Jenkins stood at a bus stop, gripping her bag tightly in her hands and stepping from side to side to ward off the cold.

The bus arrived with a screeching of brakes, stopping almost directly in front of her. She nodded shyly to the driver and paid her fare, drawing her bag closer to her out of a sense of territorialism.

She had an uncle in Cardiff, she knew, because she had heard her parents talk about him, though often in a deprecating way. She also knew he was part of Torchwood, who everyone knew dealt with aliens.

If anyone would know what to do with the two foot scaly reptile currently laying unconscious in her bag, it would be Ianto Jones.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

He found himself next to her on a beach, both of them staring across the water towards the setting sun.

"There's an old legend about this beach." She said, quietly, eyes trained on the distant horizon. "A woman—a goddess—lost her love and the stars cried a river for her."

"You're not supposed to be here," he found himself saying, staring at the blonde woman.

"Aren't I?" she asked, smiling sadly. "It's _your_ dream after all."

He seated himself next to her, not quite able to bring himself to force her out of her reverie as she stared across the incoming tide.

"It wasn't supposed to be like this. It was _never_ supposed to be like this!" she said, shockingly vehement and finally tearing her eyes from the horizon, and he was shocked to see gold swirling through them.

"Doctor…" a look of sadness crossed her face. "It's time to wake up."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

When John Smith awoke in his bed in Farringham by the cheerful knocking of a maid, he tried to remember the details of the vivid dream he was sure he had had, but all he could remember was a girl with blonde hair and gold eyes, and a sadness so deep he thought he might drown in it.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*


End file.
